DUFFY: Penders' meltdown the spark UConn needed to win Big East title

Updated 1:21 pm, Tuesday, May 28, 2013

runs. UConn rallied, and Stamford's Stanley Paul scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth. 8-7, Huskies.

A 2-1 victory over Rutgers clinched a berth in the Big East title game, where Marzi was near-flawless against Notre Dame on two days rest. The lefthander scattered four hits in a complete game effort, propelling UConn to an 8-1 victory and its first Big East title since 1994.

And, of course, the last real Big East title ever.

That's extra special for Penders, a Connecticut guy who co-captained that 1994 team. He said UConn "tried to win one for the old Big East." The original eight, he called it. He takes extreme pride in his 19 homegrown players, and said he hopes one day all 35 are from Connecticut. It's a state with brutal winters, by baseball standards. And UConn is a school with less-than-spectacular baseball facilities.

Yet, the Huskies packed the Burton Complex cafeteria Monday, awaiting their NCAA tournament seeding. When the name "Connecticut" popped up on the big screen, placed in the Blacksburg Regional, the Huskies erupted.

It was like the South Florida rally, when Vinny Siena slid into third following a misplayed single by Bulls centerfielder James Ramsay. The dugout exploded, the Huskies trailing 7-5 in the fifth.

"I knew we were going to win the whole thing (then)," Penders said. "Honest to God."

Few could have predicted as much in the regular season. UConn dropped 11 of its final 12 Big East games, backing into the tournament as the No. 8 seed. The players "felt like we were going to go out onto the field and we were going to get beat," Ferriter said. Penders was "as down as I've been since I was a coach."

"Almost all of our teams, since I've been the coach, have gotten better in May," Penders said. "This year I couldn't say that."

It was on a nine-hour bus ride to George Mason that the tide began to turn.

"We had a lot of individual meetings, had a lot of conversations, a lot about accountability and what it meant to be a UConn Husky," Penders said. "A lot of good stuff."

A few players, Ferriter said, just needed a little talk to "get going."

And a few days after that George Mason series, Penders, who normally keeps it "72 degrees," overheated.

"That fired us up," Mazzilli said. "Right after we beat Louisville, we were feeling pretty good. Right after we beat South Florida, we just knew we were going to win."

So the university left behind in the mad scramble of the Big East captured the league's final championship. The team that was left for dead -- they adopted the slogan "Dead Men Walking"-- has new life.

And its coach could briefly reflect on history.

On Sunday night's plane ride home, Penders settled into the window seat next to Carson Cross, his stud sophomore pitcher. Cross asked him, "How does this compare to when you played?"

"Christ I don't know man," Penders replied. "I've been waiting 10 years as a head coach for this, seven as an assistant. This is like having a healthy baby born. I'm happy, this is that special.